Habitat Management and Ecosystem Monitoring Section

• Main Authors: Geoff Jones, Vicki Henderson
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2006
• Subjects: Hudson Bay; Hudson
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.626.4655; http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/wildlife/ecosys/pdf/flinflon_metalcon.pdf

This study was conducted in 2002 to determine the concentration of metals and other elements in garden soils and vegetable crops grown in the city of Flin Flon, Manitoba, and provide an assessment of the health risk associated with consuming the vegetables. The same cultivars of lettuce, beans, carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes were planted in nine gardens in Flin Flon, one garden in Cranberry Portage, and one garden in The Pas. Replicate soil and vegetable samples were collected from each garden during August and September and analyzed for total concentrations of selected metals and other elements. Soil concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn) were highly correlated with each other and were significantly elevated at most gardens in Flin Flon relative to the garden in The Pas. In some cases the concentrations of these elements in the Flin Flon gardens exceeded established soil quality guideline levels, while concentrations in the soil from the gardens in Cranberry Portage and The Pas did not exceed the guidelines. Arsenic, Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg, and Zn are known constituents in past and present atmospheric emissions from the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting (HBM&S) smelter in Flin Flon. Concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg, Se, and Zn in vegetables varied between sites and between vegetable species. In the majority of cases, vegetables grown in Flin Flon had higher concentrations of